Darby

I've had a think about it and I would hate for this to happen to anyone else if there was something I could do to stop it so it does seem like the right thing to do is to report the breeder. A part of me just feels that I've made a commitment to him to take a certain course of action and that I should stick by. Obviously I am a little more ethical than the breeder is! I doubt they will do anything about it now he has given me my money back but I guess at least he will be conscious of his actions in the future. The vets didn't really ever give us a definitive diagnosis with Beau but it was obvious he was suffering from a range of problems. The ultra sound and xray didn't show anything definitive but his blood tests did indicate that he may have had a tumor somewhere. His urine tests also showed some abnormalities so they think there was something wrong with his kidneys. He also seemed to have some problem with his digestive system. As someone suggested above it seems that some puppies are just made "wrongly" and unfortunately this seems to be all too common in blue staffys which are bred irresponsibly for their colour. I really appreciate your offer Cara of going and checking out the breeder but it really won't be necessary. She has been absolutely amazing and I have complete confidence in her. Dealing with her has been such a contrast to our previous experience and she has assured us that she will always be there for anything we need into the future. I just can't thank her enough! While we still miss Beau my family just can't wait until our new pup arrives. I've (hopefully) attached a photo that the breeder sent us of our beautiful new boy - Ronan

I'll have a think about it. I would really hate for anyone to have to go through what we did. I did tell the breeder though that I would report him and claim full costs if he didn't give me the money we paid for Beau back and while it took a while and he should have taken responsibility from the start he did end up doing what I asked so I'm not sure how I would feel about reporting him now. I'm also unsure what to do about the vet. I don't know what's normal but It sounds like these vets only do a very basic physical examination and don't check blood, urine etc for any abnormalities. They saw beau at 7 weeks which was only 1 week after I saw him first at 6 weeks and while he was definitely one of the smaller puppies the difference between him and the other pups wasn't as noticeable at that stage. What does seem a bit fishy though is that the vet called the breeder right away to say that I was asking questions and then started acting cagey like they were trying to hide something

After threatening to report the breeder to dogs nsw and fair trading he finally came to the party and gave us back the money we paid for Beau. I'm still out of pocket $1,500 from the vet bill but I'm just happy to put this horrible experience behind me and move on. Our family is now eagerly awaiting a beautiful red staffy puppy that is coming to us from a wonderful breeder on the apple Isle. While they do look great I wouldn't go near a blue staffy knowing what I know now!

Thanks again to everyone! I contacted the vet that did the check again and got a bit more info. They told me that the puppy weighed 2.1kg at 7 weeks and that they did a physical examination and everything seemed fine. Two days after we got the puppy at 8 weeks it was down to 1.9kg. Does a healthy puppy lose 200g in a week? Once I started asking more questions the vet started saying that the info was confidential and they shouldn't have told me anything! I've been asking questions with the other breeder and he isn't responding. This whole thing feels dodgy and as suggested I think I should run a mile! I am going to report the breeder to dogs nsw and claim full costs (including $1,500 vet bill) from fair trading. I'm not sure how I'll go though. The silver lining in all this though is that through this forum I have been contacted by a responsible breeder with a beautiful puppy that they are willing to let become part of our family!

Thanks for everyone's support. This forum has been really helpful in s bad situation. We put little Beau down yesterday and it was really sad but I'm glad he doesn't have to struggle anymore. I contacted the vet that did the original vet check to ask what they actually check and what records they have and then next thing I know I get a call from the breeder - the vet must have called him and said that I was asking questions! He was suddenly being more sympathetic and said that another breeder he knows is about to have a litter and owes him a puppy. I rang the other breeder and checked out his facebook page and the dogs look nice but I'm not sure about it. I guess I'll wait and see what pups I can choose from. If it doesn't work out with this breeder can anyone suggest How I go about finding a reputable breeder? I live near jervis bay which is about 2 hours south of Sydney but understand I may have to look travel a bit

I'm afraid this is not going to end well. Our puppy is eating a tiny bit more but still not growing. He's still only 2.2kg at 10 weeks! He is now really sad and hardly playful at all and now also seems to be in considerable discomfort around his belly. A more senior vet saw him yesterday and said that while they can't determine exactly what is going on she said he does have some severe issues. She thinks he may have a problem with his liver and also has some neurological abnormalities. They are now saying that the only real option if we want to go further is to refer him to animal hospital in Sydney where they can do more detailed diagnostics but that the outlook still isn't good. We have made the decision to put the poor little guy out of his misery. This has been a traumatic few weeks for my family and I am really angry at the breeder. He may not of known the extent of our puppies problems when he sold him to us but his attitude since then has been disgusting!

Still hardly eating at all but seems yo be happy and playing a bit. We have tried different types of food to see if we can get him a bit more interested but not having much luck with anything. He ate a little bit of human grade mince last night and will occasionally have a little nibble on some wet food but won't go near dry food. We have also been giving him a little bit of biolac milk powder. The vets even suggested giving him some bbq chicken so we were going to try that. I know this isn't ideal but we just want to try to get him eating something. Does anyone have any suggestions as to foods we could try?

Thanks for everyone's concern. The vets are still trying to work out what's going on. He is back home now and is a bit happier and eating a bit more but still not enough. He has gained a little bit of weight though and is up to 2.1kg The ultrasound and X-ray didn't show anything which is good. Two days ago he started urinating constantly- like every 30 seconds! We took him back to the vet and they found blood in his urine which indicates a uti. They have now run some further tests and found crystals in his urine and are sending his sample off for another test at pathology. In the mean time they have given him antibiotics which seem to be working as he isn't peeing as much

What a roller coaster of a day! Our puppy was a little better this morning and seemed a bit brighter and even ate a little bit. The results of the blood test done on Saturday then came back with high calcium and phosphate levels, low chloride and also anaemic. The vets said that this could be an indication of a tumour. The vets also tested his urine and his glucose levels were high and his urine had a low concentration which apparently might also indicate a kidney problem. They were also worried about his spine and back legs. He looks a little hunched over sometimes. We just thought this was because he was a bit skinny. They also think the muscles around his back legs are under developed and weak. The vets suggested that they keep him in and put him on a drip as he was quite dehydrated and said that the next course of action is to do an ultrasound and an X-ray. They did another run of tests this afternoon and his kidneys now appear normal but his calcium and phosphate are still high. He has now also eaten a bit more at the vets and seems quite a bit happier. I think being on the drip has helped him. The vets are also now wondering if the black poo and loss of appetite might have been due to worms and associated damage to his digestive lining. The breeder did worm him before we got him and the vets gave him another dose on Saturday I've contacted the breeder and he isn't being helpful at all. He told me that the puppy was fine when we got him a week ago and that he is our responsibility. He said if the vets can't fix him to put him down and he will give me $1,000 back. I really hope it doesn't come to that and it's really not about money but this probably won't even cover my vet bill let alone the $1,800 we paid for him. I've spoken to dogs NSW and they've said if it is a pre existing condition the breeder is responsible and we can lodge a complaint. This really isn't working out as we planned. I now understand all the comments about buying through a reputable breeder and feel really stupid that i didn't research things better.

I really appreciate all the advice! I had heard about the potential genetic issues with blue staffys but thought we might be safe as his mum was black/brindle. I will see what the test results come back with tomorrow but it will be so hard on my kids (and me!) if we took him back to the breeder. We just lost our last staffy to cancer about 6 months ago! We have already let the breeder know what's going on I did wonder about some type of obstruction. I have caught him chewing on rocks a couple of times. He is supposed to come with papers. The breeder said dogs nsw will send these to us. Is this the normal procedure? I know 1.9kg is tiny which is why I'm so worried. Sorry I'm a newby how do you post photos from an iPhone? He has eaten and drank a little but today but still not nearly enough.

I really hope he's ok! If he isn't though where do I stand with the breeder? We paid quite a lot of money. Do they hold any responsibility if they sell a puppy with health issues?

The vet didn't ask about his poo but I will let her know. I thought he just might be a bit dehydrated as he doesn't drink much either. We did let the breeder know but he wasn't much help. He just asked what we were feeding him and if we had given him anything like chocolate or onion - which we hadn't obviously! The vet had a look at his teeth and they seem fine. I don't know if the parents were health tested but he did show me their papers. I did ask the breeder about his size and he just said that some puppies are a bit smaller but they will catch up. I guess we will just have to see what the blood test comes back with and go from there

The vet didn't ask about his poo but I will let her know. I thought he just might be a bit dehydrated as he doesn't drink much either. We did let the breeder know but he wasn't much help. He just asked what we were feeding him and if we had given him anything like chocolate or onion - which we hadn't obviously! The vet had a look at his teeth and they seem fine. I don't know if the parents were health tested but he did show me their papers. I did ask the breeder about his size and he just said that some puppies are a bit smaller but they will catch up. I guess we will just have to see what the blood test comes back with and go from there

His poo isn't soft. It seems quite hard and black. I don't think he's grown at all in the week we've had him. He probably looks skinnier if anything. Thanks, I'll try the pedigree puppy food

We bought a blue staffy puppy from a breeder a week ago. He was one of the smaller pups in the litter and a little skinny for a staffy but seemed healthy enough and had been vet checked etc. Since we've had him home he hardly seems interested in food at all. The breeder said he was feeding them advance canned puppy food so we have tried to continue with this but have also tried mixing it with mince and black hawk puppy pellets soaked in water. Most of the time he won't touch his food at all or only eat very small amounts. He is playful sometimes but does seem very sleepy a lot of the time and seems to be quite sad. We took him to the vet yesterday and he only weighed 1.9kg which is very small for 9 weeks. The vet wormed him again but seemed a little worried something else was going on so took a blood sample. Is it possible that it's just a separation thing and needs time to adjust or should we be concerned? Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. My kids will be devastated if anything happens to him!